Blue Jays’ Kirk tops players in World Series Game 1, going 3-for-3 with a 2-run homer

Alejandro Kirk of the Blue Jays is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s World Series Game 1.

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Alejandro Kirk of the Blue Jays, who homered and went 3-for-3, scoring three times and driving in two runs, is Box-Toppers Player of the Game in Friday’s World Series Game 1.

The Toronto Blue Jays win 11-4 to take a 1-0 lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the best-of-seven-game series.

Kirk hit a fourth-inning single and scored the Blue Jays’ first run of the game on Daulton Varsho’s homer. He hit a sixth-inning single and subsequently scored the team’s fourth run when Nathan Lukes walked with the bases loaded. And he hit a sixth-inning, two -run homer, driving in Vladimir Guerrero Jr., scoring the 11th run of the game, capping off the Blue Jays’ nine-run inning.

Kirk earned 7.0 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 115th among all players, 17th among American League batters and second among AL catchers, behind Salvador Perez of the Royals (9.5). This is Kirk’s first Player of the Game honor of the 2025 postseason.

Addison Barger hit a sixth-inning grand slam, putting the Blue Jays ahead 9-2

Kirk had a Box-Toppers game score Friday of +5.0. That was the same score as another Blue Jays batter, Addison Barger, who hit a sixth-inning grand slam, putting the Blue Jays ahead 9-2. Barger went 2-for-2, scoring once and driving in four runs. Though both Barger and Kirk had +5.0 game scores, Kirk held the tiebreaking advantage with more at bats—three vs. two, to win Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors.

Blue Jays top pitcher, reliever Seranthony Domínguez, who earned the win, recorded a +3.1 Box-Toppers game score (1.1IP 0H 0R 0BB 2K W).

Blue Jays starting pitcher Trey Yesavage recorded a -2.0 Box-Toppers game score (4IP 4H 2R 3BB 5K ND).

Blue Jays starting pitcher Trey Yesavage recorded a -2.0 Box-Toppers game score (4IP 4H 2R 3BB 5K ND). Blue Jays reliever Braydon Fisher recorded the team’s lowest game score (-3.0), giving up two runs to the Dodgers in the seventh inning (1IP H 2R BB 2K ND).

Dodgers starting pitcher Blake Snell recorded the game’s lowest Box-Toppers game score in the loss of -12.0 (5IP 8H 5R 3BB 4K L).

Dodgers starting pitcher Blake Snell recorded the game’s lowest Box-Toppers game score in the loss of -12.0 (5IP 8H 5R 3BB 4K L). Snell had won Player of the Game honors in each of his three previous postseason starts, most of any player in 2025 (Sept. 30, Oct. 6 and Oct. 13). He had allowed only two runs and six hits over a combined 21 innings in those three starts.

Two Dodgers relievers also had low Box-Toppers game scores. Emmet Sheehan had a -8.9 game score (0.1IP 2H 3R BBB 0K ND) and Anthony Banda had a -8.8 game score (0.2IP 3H R 0BB 0K ND).

Dodgers top batter Shohei Ohtani recorded a 0.0 game score (HR 1-4 R 2BI).

A look at Box-Toppers game scores of all Blue Jays players in World Series Game 1 (chart).

Top Blue Jays in World Series Game 1: Blue Jays 11, Dodgers 4

Here are the Box-Toppers game scores (BTG) of all Blue Jays players who appeared in World Series Game 1, listed from highest to lowest Box-Toppers game score. Player of the Game (POG) is Alejandro Kirk.

10/24 BTG Player of the Game AB R H BI   IP H R ER BB K
POG +5.0 Alejandro Kirk C 3 3 3 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +5.0 Addison Barger PH‑RF 2 1 2 4   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +3.1 Seranthony Domínguez (W, 2‑0) ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.1 0 0 0 0 2
  +2.0 Daulton Varsho CF 3 2 1 2   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +2.0 Chris Bassitt ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 1 2
  +1.0 Nathan Lukes PH‑LF 1 1 0 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  +1.0 Eric Lauer ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 0 0 0 1 1
  +0.2 Mason Fluharty ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   0.2 1 0 0 0 1
  ‑1.0 Ernie Clement 3B 4 0 2 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑1.0 Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B 4 1 2 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑1.0 Andrés Giménez SS 4 1 1 1   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑1.0 Bo Bichette 2B 2 0 1 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑1.0 Isiah Kiner‑Falefa PR‑2B 2 1 0 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑2.0 George Springer DH 5 1 2 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑2.0 Myles Straw RF 2 0 0 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑2.0 Trey Yesavage ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   4.0 4 2 2 3 5
  ‑3.0 Davis Schneider LF 3 0 0 0   ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑
  ‑3.0 Braydon Fisher ‑ ‑ ‑ ‑   1.0 1 2 2 1 2
No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.
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Box-Toppers point totals of the day’s Player of the Game winners

Here are Box-Toppers point totals of each of the Player of the Game winners. Players are ranked by their Box-Toppers point total in 2025 (’25). Also shown is their point total for this season and last (’24-’25), the period 2020-2025 (’20-25) and each players’ career point total. Also shown is how their 2025 Box-Toppers point total compares with their 2024 total (+/-).
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Player of the Game Pos Team ’25 ’24‑25 ’20‑25 Career +/‑
Kirk, Alejandro 4353 ca tor al 7.0 7.0 16.0 16.0 +7.0
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World Series Game 2, Blue Jays lead Dodgers, 1-0

Saturday’s pitching matchup (for more, see matchups chart below):

Dodgers—Yoshinobu Yamamoto, 17.7 Box-Toppers points in 2025, seventh among all players, fourth among NL pitchers.

Yamamoto has won Box-Toppers Player of the Game honors in two of his three 2025 postseason starts: the NL Wild Card Game 2 on Oct. 1 and NLCS Game 2 on Oct. 14. He also started in the NLDS Game 3 loss against the Phillies Oct. 8.

Blue Jays—Kevin Gausman, 14.1 Box-Toppers points in 2025, 15th among all players, seventh among AL pitchers.

Gausman has made four appearances this postseason, including one in relief, but did not earn Player of the Game honors in any of them.

A Box-Toppers look at Saturday’s World Series pitching matchups

A Box-Toppers look at the upcoming day’s probable pitching matchups. Teams are paired below with visiting teams on top and home teams on the bottom. Each team’s starting pitcher is shown with their Box-Toppers point total from 2025 (’25), this year and last year (’24-25), over a six-year period (’20-25) and their career point total.
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Game Starter ’25 ’24‑25 ’20‑25 Career
LAD Yamamoto, Yoshinobu 4964 17.7 24.1 24.1 24.1
TOR Gausman, Kevin 3191 14.1 24.1 70.2 112.2
Starters subject to change.
* Player has yet to earn any career Box-Toppers points.
What are those numbers after players' names?
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About Box-Toppers

Box-Toppers tracks who most helps their team win the most games. Using standard box score statistics, Box-Toppers uses a simple formula to determine a Player of the Game for each Major League Baseball game played. That player is the person who contributed most to his team’s win. In regular season games, players earn 1.0 Box-Toppers point for being named Player of the Game and can earn bonus points for being Player of the Day or top player or batter in their league for the day. (No Box-Toppers points are awarded in postseason games.)

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